For Dems, Campaign is Serious Fun

At a recent general meeting of the Harvard Democrats, it’s clear—even in the midst of a heated election season, the Dems are never too busy campaigning to have a little fun.

Members run around the room, encouraging people to send out a satirical “Men for Palin” video that they made and put on YouTube. During a slideshow presentation comparing John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s health care plans, a graphic describes McCain’s position with the slogan, “New Look! Same Great Taste!” The meeting of around 30 members starts at least 15 minutes past the standard seven-minute Harvard grace period.

The Dems, like any large organization, are a somewhat elastic group. Their numbers are made up of both casual supporters who attend the occasional party or campaign event and a dedicated core that devotes countless hours to the organization. While the group’s Dems-talk e-mail list reaches about 2,200 undergraduates, Dems President Jarret A. Zafran ’09 estimates that only about 200 students actually attend an event each semester.

At the meeting, Zafran outlines the group’s precinct captain system, which promotes personal contacts between the captains—who are in charge of certain dorms—and student supporters. The Dems are also reaching out to partner with other campus groups like the BGLTSA, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, and Harvard Supporters for Israel. A recent canvassing trip to New Hampshire was co-sponsored by the Environmental Action Committee.

Both Zafran and Audrey A. White ’10, the Dems’ campaigns director, convey an infectious energy about the election. White says that the number of new people getting involved in canvassing trips is “phenomenal.” Even their most hardcore of Hillary supporters have now fully converted to the Obama camp (see story, page C21). Zafran says that he is optimistic about the youth vote in this election, calling the number of volunteers “astounding.”

“We’re not going to Manchester this weekend,” Zafran said. “We’re going to Concord because every door [in Manchester] has been hit.”

IN THE BANK

It’s 9:30 on a Wednesday night and a handful of students is gathered around a large table in the Adams Conservatory.

White, a spunky New Yorker dressed in a dark blue dress and brown boots, is overseeing the Dems’ weekly phonebanking efforts. The table is littered with pretzels, cheese-flavored popcorn, Starbursts, fruit juice, and, most importantly, Zesty Taco/Chipotle Ranch Doritos.

“We thought we needed some change in our Doritos because Barack Obama is both zesty and chipotle, so I got the variety pack,” says Benjamin J. Nelson ’11, one of the Dems’ phonebanking captains, who then dials the number of a woman in Colorado.

This evening, the club is calling Colorado voters to ask whether they’re planning to vote for Obama or McCain. They’re also inquiring about voters’ preferences in a close Senate race between Democrat Mark Udall and Republican Bob Schaffer.

White says that the group schedules its phonebanks so that the students can use their free cell phone minutes to make the calls. Nelson is now using those minutes to tell the Colorado woman about Obama’s tax plan.

“Ben is very plugged in to politics,” White says. “I’m always impressed.”

Across the table, Christian L. Garland ’10, the Dems’ secretary, is helping Membership Chair Marianne Eagan ’10 call students to ask them to come on the club’s weekend campaign trip. Garland is the author of the amalgam of club announcements and biting satire known as the “Harvard College Democrats Weekly Bulletin.” Peppered with sentences like “BRING UR CELL PHONEZ AND UR LAPTOPS, ’cause we gon’ hit up Collaradda” and phrases like “Almost President Barry Obama,” the weekly e-mail reads like one of the snarky blogs that Garland says are the inspiration for his style.

“When it comes to writing the e-mails, I’ve kind of abandoned all tact,” Garland says in characteristic, tongue-in-cheek tone. “Since I’ve come to Harvard, I’ve become leftist and lost most respect for the right.”

The comical, light-hearted style of the bulletin is representative of the laid-back nature of the club and its members, a style that presumably would not be embraced in the Harvard Republican Club’s more sober “GOP Weekly” newsletter.

Nelson fidgets in his chair. He’s now talking with the voter about Obama’s wife Michelle. This woman is clearly not going to be voting Democratic.

A new volunteer enters the room. Everyone greets her, and Ricky M. Hanzich ’11, the other phonebanking captain, jumps up to show her how to phonebank. The group uses votebuilder.com, a Web site that supplies them with questions to ask the Colorado voters and talking points to persuade those who are not already members of Team Obama.

Finally, Nelson gets off the phone.

“At the end she said Palin’s ability to manage the budget in Alaska appealed to her and that she would probably vote for McCain,” he says.

He couldn’t convince her, but no one could say he didn’t try—the call had lasted 32 minutes.

BAG LUNCHES AND LIT DROPS

Early one Saturday morning, 25 days before election day, two yellow school buses are parked along the edge of Harvard Yard, poised to carry students to New Hampshire for a day of canvassing. One is for the Democrats and one for the Republicans, and it would be difficult to mistake the two: the Republican bus, parked outside of Boylston Gate, is half-empty, and the canvassers are sitting quietly in their seats. A nearly-full tray of frosted donuts occupies the front seat. (For more on the Harvard Republican Club, see story, p. C16.)

Over by Johnston Gate, where the Dems are parked, the situation is one of barely controlled chaos. White takes attendance while encouraging canvassers to squeeze three to a seat.

“We’re focusing on health care today,” says Eva Z. Lam ’10, before launching into a sample canvassing conversation. According to a study, for every 12 people the students talk to, they will convince one of them to vote for Obama—and with Al Gore ’69 losing the 2000 election by just 537 Florida votes, she reminds the bus that those extra votes could make all the difference.

In addition to campaigning for Obama, the students will also be pushing for the reelection of Representative Paul Hodes and for former Governor Jeanne Shaheen, the former director of the Institute of Politics who is making her second bid for the U.S. Senate.

The bus pulls into Concord, where bright sprays of autumn leaves frame a postcard-perfect New England town.

Mismatched office chairs and handmade signs proclaiming “Hockey Moms for Obama” litter the small Concord Democratic campaign headquarters. In the back room, a man is performing the thankless, tedious task of shredding voter information. Four-foot-high garbage bags filled with shredded paper surround him.

New canvassers are paired with more experienced ones, and they grab bag lunches before knocking on their first doors.

For Andrew G. Maher ’11 and Jonathan P. Hawley ’10, canvassing is nothing new. Maher is a New Hampshire native who has canvassed the area in the past and who interned with the New Hampshire Democratic Coordinated Campaign. Hawley had previously worked for a Republican—California Governor Arnold Schwarznegger.

After donning the requisite Obama stickers, the pair head to Penacook, a town north of Concord. Maher and Hawley form a smooth, optimistic team—when voters supported Obama but were undecided on congressional candidates, Maher reminded them that Obama would need large Democratic majorities in the House and Senate in order to push through his agenda.

Hawley, a 6’5” California native, radiates confidence and joviality. When asked about Obama’s political experience, he says, “I’d rather have someone who’s right than someone who’s old.” It’s a tongue-in-cheek opinion, he insists, but one that is indicative of the Dems’ irreverent energy.

At the first house they visit, a woman who says she will be supporting Obama answers the door. But she says that she is still undecided on the other candidates. Maher marks her down as a “leaner” for Shaheen. Much of the point of this trip is for the campaign to identify who will be supporting them and which undecided voters they should target.

There are a few unreceptive locals—one man glares from behind his screened porch, another refuses even to listen to the canvassers’ pitch—but most are polite and pleasant. The majority aren’t home, so they “lit drop,” leaving behind brochures on the candidates.

When another person doesn’t come to the door, Hawley asks Maher, “Do you want to lit this place up?” They discuss the finer points of all the ways to leave behind candidate information.

Hawley tallies up the day’s labor back at the Democratic headquarters: 71 people not home, 11 people talked to, 41 doors knocked on in total. Of those spoken to, seven were for Obama, none were for McCain, and three were undecided.

GET-OUT-THE-VOLE

Evelyn R. Wenger ’11 is back on her home turf. The New Hampshire native spent her summer canvassing in the state and has been on two other Dems trips this fall. Her canvassing partner (and blockmate) Maia Usui ’11 can’t even vote. Usui, who was raised in Japan and attended high school in Thailand, considers the trip a more exotic experience than her politically-minded friend.

The blockmates are assigned a route that is a mile walk from the Concord campaign headquarters. They take off down the street and break into their bag lunches.

Red and yellow leaves crunch under Usui’s black boots and Wenger’s sneakers as they approach a house. Wenger usually takes the lead when they talk to a voter, introducing the pair and asking about the person’s voting plans.

When she first approaches someone, her voice gets soft in a way that makes it seem like she is trying to establish a connection. New Hampshire voters, she realizes, tend to be accustomed to presidential politics on account of the state’s first-in-the-nation primary status.

Though most people are not home or only briefly chat with the two canvassers, not all their interactions are mundane. At one house, Wenger and Usui are about five minutes into a political discussion with a man when he asks the two girls to look away. He kills a vole with his shoe. The girls are allowed to turn around, and the conversation resumes.

Walking back to campaign headquarters, the two muse on the activities of the day. Usui is pleasantly surprised that there were so many undecided voters, unlike at Harvard, where she feels everyone has already made up their minds. Though they both say that they enjoyed the experience, neither feels certain that her work would have any impact. In hindsight, Wenger wishes she had told some of the undecided voters about why she supported Obama.

“At the end of the day, the strongest statement we could have made is just showing up,” Usui says. “Anything else isn’t make or break.”

“I hope,” Wenger says.

—Staff writer Lauren D. Kiel can be reached at lkiel@fas.harvard.edu.
—Staff writer Lingbo Li can be reached at lingboli@fas.harvard.edu.